Cisco Unified Communications Manager Auto-Attendant

Cisco Unified Communications Manager Auto-Attendant, a simple automated attendant, allows callers to locate people in your organization without talking to a receptionist. You can customize the prompts that are played for the caller, but you cannot customize how the software interacts with the customer.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager Auto-Attendant, a simple automated attendant, allows callers to locate people in your organization without talking to a receptionist. You can customize the prompts that are played for the caller, but you cannot customize how the software interacts with the customer.

Configure the Cisco Customer Response Solutions (CRS) Engine. You must install and configure Cisco CRS before you can use Cisco Unified Communications Manager Auto-Attendant. The Cisco CRS Engine controls the software and its connection to the telephony system.

•Set up the cluster, if applicable.

•Set up the server.

•Add a Unified CM telephony call control group.

•Provision a Cisco media termination subsystem.

•Add a new Cisco Unified Communications Manager Auto-Attendant.

•Configure a Unified CM telephony trigger.

These procedures can be found in the following Cisco CRS documentation:

Introducing Cisco Unified Communications Manager Auto-Attendant

Cisco Unified Communications Manager Auto-Attendant (see Figure 13-1) works with Cisco Unified Communications Manager to receive calls on specific telephone extensions. The software interacts with the caller and allows the caller to search for and select the extension of the party (in your organization) that the caller is trying to reach.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager Auto-Attendant Overview

•Plays a main menu prompt that asks the caller to perform one of three actions:

–Press 0 for the operator.

–Press 1 to enter an extension number.

–Press 2 to spell by name.

•If the caller chooses to spell by name (by pressing 2), the system compares the letters that are entered with the names that are configured to the available extensions.

–If a match exists, the system announces a transfer to the matched user and waits for up to 2 seconds for the caller to press any DTMF key to stop the transfer. If the caller does not stop the transfer, the system performs an explicit confirmation: it prompts the user for confirmation of the name and transfers the call to the primary extension of that user.

–If more than one match occurs, the system prompts the caller to choose the correct extension.

–If too many matches occur, the system prompts the caller to enter more characters.

•When the caller has specified the destination, the system transfers the call.

–If the line is busy or not in service, the system informs the caller accordingly and replays the main menu prompt.

•Gateway—Connects the unified communications network to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and to other private telephone systems such as Public Branch Exchange (PBX). You must purchase gateways separately.

•Cisco Unified Communications Manager Server—Provides the features that are required to implement IP phones, manage gateways, provides failover and redundancy service for the telephony system, and directs voice over IP traffic to the Cisco CRS system. You must purchase Cisco Unified Communications Manager separately.

Managing Cisco Unified Communications Manager Auto-Attendant

Use Cisco CRS Administration to manage Cisco Unified Communications Manager Auto-Attendant. Use the online help to learn how to use the interface and perform these tasks. Table 13-2 describes the management tasks.

Make sure that the engine is running for your automated attendant to work. You can stop and restart the engine to help resolve or troubleshoot problems.

Choose System > Control Center and click the Cisco CRS Engine in the menu on the left. In the list that appears, find "CRS Engine". In the Status column, if a triangular button points to the right, you know that the engine is running.

If a square shows in this column, you know that the engine is not running. To restart the engine, click the radio button next to "CRS Engine" and click Restart.

If the engine is running and you want to stop it, click the radio button next to "CRS Engine" and click Stop.

Change the Cisco CRS Engine configuration

Modify the engine configuration to resolve problems.

Choose System > System Parameters.

Set up trace files

Set up trace files to collect troubleshooting information.

Choose System > Tracing; then, click Trace File Configuration. See the online help for detailed information.